US imposes sanctions on commanders in eastern DRC

The US has imposed sanctions on commanders of armed groups it accused of driving the conflict in eastern DRC, where fighting has continued despite mediation efforts by Washington, reports Polity. Clashes have continued in eastern Congo, where M23 rebels, which the UN says are backed by Rwanda, and the Democratic ‌Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Hutu militia rooted in the 1994 genocide, are fighting on opposite sides. Rwanda denies backing M23. The US Treasury Department said it imposed sanctions on M23 commander and chief of intelligence John Nzenze, as well as Gustave Kubwayo, an FDLR commander and leader of an intelligence and special operations unit. ‘Persistent violence by armed groups is exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis and presents a threat to US interests in the region. Today’s sanctions support a peaceful resolution and end to the bloodshed.’ Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. Rwanda and and the DRC signed a peace deal in Washington in December as part ​of US President Donald Trump's push ​to broker peace and attract billions of dollars in Western investment. Days after that ceremony, however, M23 rebels entered the eastern Congo city of Uvira, near the Burundian border, ​in the war's biggest escalation in months. They later pulled out under US pressure.